Srikanth has been unable to emulate his performances from the last season wherein he won record-setting four Superseries title. Barring the Commonwealth Games, in which he finished runner-up after losing the final to Lee Chong Wei, the world number six's performances have been far from impressive.

A win against the Super Dan later today will give the defending champion the much-needed boost in confidence.

Srikanth hasn't met Lin since the crushing quarter-final defeat at Rio Olympics but the Hyderabad shuttler has improved vastly since and is capable of ousting the Chinese great.

On the other hand, Lin, who is unseeded in the ongoing tournament, fended off a stiff challenge from local star Jan O Jorgensen in the first round on Tuesday.1

The two-time champion needs to be at his best to work his way past the Indian shuttler, who has headed into the second round on the back of a comfortable win over Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.